Trump Charged Secret Service Over $50,000 For Rooms Used By Agents Protecting Him

Former President Donald Trump charged the Secret Service more than $50,000 in rent for the rooms used by agents assigned to protect him.

The Secret Service recently released spending records where it was shown that the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey charged the agents $566.64 a night or nearly $10,200 during the 18-night stay.

While the agency redacted the nightly rate from their spending records, the bill matched the $566.64 per night charge for a four-bedroom “cottage” that the golf club charged the government while Trump was still serving as the president, as reported by The Washington Post.

In total, Trump charged the U.S. government more than $50,000 in rent for the rooms in Bedminster and Mar-a-Lago since he left the White House in January.

The former president had previously charged the Secret Service more than $40,000 to use a single room in his Mar-a-Lago Club between January 20 and April 30 for his security detail.

The Palm Beach resort charged the government $396 per night. The figure is nearly double the $205 federally mandated maximum rate for the accommodation of most government employees in the county, according to the Business Insider.

The Secret Service also released a “hotel request” form suggesting that the agents planned to rent rooms at the Bedminster property from May 28 to July 1. Additionally, they also released bills that showed the agency paid $3,400 to the Bedminster golf club before Trump arrived. It is unclear what the agents were doing at the club from January through early May.

The Post had previously revealed that between January 2017 to April 2018, taxpayers shelled out $471,000 as payments for rent, services, food, wine and bottled water used on Trump’s properties.

As per laws, Trump can bill the Secret Service for staying at his properties during or after his presidency. The agency is also allowed to pay what it must to rent rooms located near its charges for use as command posts and meeting rooms.

“The service is more focused on the protective necessity, as opposed to, ‘How much is it going to cost after the fact?’” Jonathan Wackrow, a Secret Service agent, told the publication.